Running for recognition

June 28, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 12:28 p.m.

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Darryl Thompson, left, of the Starbright Program in Santa Ana gets a high-five from Victor Magnaye after anchoring and winning his heat of the relay race during Westview's Sports Fest at Liberty Park in Westminster on Friday morning. Approximately 400 athletes took part in the event from 14 programs in the area. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Edgar Torres, left, of the Multicultural Program in Westminster gets ready to receive the baton from a teammate during a heat of the relay race of Westview's Sports Fest at Liberty Park in Westminster on Friday morning. Approximately 400 athletes took part in the event from 14 programs in the area. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Roberto Reyes, a job coach with the Multicultural Program in Westminster, plays the drum as he watches the finish of a heat of the relay race of Westview's Sports Fest Friday at Liberty Park in Westminster on Friday morning. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Christine Mizuno hands the baton off to Linda Ly Vo, both of the Multicultural Program in Westminster, in a heat of the relay race of Westview's Sports Fest Friday at Liberty Park in Westminster on Friday morning. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Darryl Thompson of the Starbright Program in Santa Ana gets high-fives after anchoring and winning his heat of the relay race during Westview's Sports Fest at Liberty Park in Westminster on Friday morning. Approximately 400 athletes took part in the event from 14 programs in the area. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Paul Hayton of the Community Based Program in Anaheim runs to victory in his heat of the 100 yard dash during Westview's Sports Fest at Liberty Park in Westminster on Friday morning. Approximately 400 athletes took part in the event from 14 programs in the area. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Edgar Torres, of the Multicultural Program Community Based in Westminster, cheers on a teammate during the awards presentation following Westview's Sports Fest at Liberty Park in Westminster on Friday morning. Approximately 400 athletes took part in the event from 14 programs in the area. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Michael Namkoong of the Multicultural Program in Westminster, runs with the baton in a heat of the relay race of Westview's Sports Fest Friday at Liberty Park in Westminster on Friday morning. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Gregg Gann, president and CEO of Westview Services, looks on during the awards ceremony of the Sports Fest at Liberty Park in Westminster Friday morning. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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First place medals given to athletes during the awards ceremony of the Sports Fest at Liberty Park in Westminster Friday morning. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Darryl Thompson, left, of the Starbright Program in Santa Ana gets a high-five from Victor Magnaye after anchoring and winning his heat of the relay race during Westview's Sports Fest at Liberty Park in Westminster on Friday morning. Approximately 400 athletes took part in the event from 14 programs in the area.MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

How to help

A primary tenet of Westview's mission is to help its clients find jobs. Many higher-functioning clients work at places including Vons or Sears. But, according to CEO Gregg Gann, when the recession hit and the country's jobs went away, so did many available for Westview clients.

If you have jobs available for those with disabilities, you can contact Gann at 714-517-6606 or ggann@westviewservices.org.

WESTMINSTER – Harry Mizuno sat in a plastic folding chair in Liberty Park Friday and beamed proudly as his 44-year-old daughter Christine Mizuno sprinted across the field toward the finish line while the theme from "Rocky" blasted from the speakers. He described her as a fighter and a competitor.

"It's amazing she can even walk and run," Mizuno said.

That is because when she was 2 days old, Christine was diagnosed with meningitis. She has brain damage and her body is partially paralyzed.

Yet on Friday, she had a medal placed around her neck

Christine is one of 400 adults who competed in a weeklong athletic competition for those with disabilities – providing an opportunity for them to run, compete, socialize and have fun.

Westview Services, a 26-year-old Orange County-based nonprofit group that helps people with disabilities lead active and productive lives, held its eighth-annual Sports Fest this week at Westminster's Liberty Park and Anaheim's Modjeska Park, awarding medals to each of the 400 participants who came from all over the county and the Inland Empire.

"This gives our clients the opportunity to participate in something," said Carole Cooper, the activities director for Westview. "Many of them are lower functioning and can't compete in the Special Olympics. This gives them the chance to compete."

Westview is a state-funded organization that serves more than 2,000 adults in 30 programs throughout Southern California. Its mission is to tap the potential of those who many in mainstream society have written off, said the group's operations director, Pethuru Lourthu.

Sports Fest's organizers brought in 14 different programs – 10 from Orange County, three from Riverside and one from Covina – to compete in 12 different events, from softball and soccer, to bocce ball and basketball. Friday was dedicated solely to track events, including the 50 meter dash and several relay races.

Each program designed its T-shirts and banners. Some groups, like the "community-based organization," started chants of support for their team: "CBO! CBO! CBO!"

Organizers are proud of what Sports Fest has become.

Eight years ago, Sports Fest was just "a day of bocce ball and hot dogs," Cooper said. "And from that it evolved into all this."

The participants ran around the field, smiled, laughed and pumped their fists when they won an event.

"They really look forward to this," Lourthu said. "The little things to us make a big difference for them."

The range of disabilities for the clients at Westview ranges from mild autism and deafness to those with cerebral palsy or paraplegia. Each client possesses its own challenges for the 500 employees dedicated to helping them find their talents and meaning in life.

Take, fore example, Tuong Tran, who is deaf and nonverbal; he communicates to his coach via sign language. But he is a talented athlete who starred at Sports Fest.

"He is the best soccer player and athlete," said Angie Nguyen Fisher, the manager of Westview's multicultural program, based in Westminster, of which Tran is a client. "We have to hold him out of some events because he is so good."

At the medal ceremony on Friday, when it was his turn to receive a medal, he raced from his seat to where Westview CEO Gregg Gann was holding a medal and smiling. Tran pumped his fists and looked as if he was giving an internal victory whoop.

There were four types of medals given out, the standard gold, silver and bronze ones, and a participation medal.

"They love medals," Fisher said. "They wear them all year long. Some of them are still wearing their medals from last year. It means a lot to them."

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